harp seal


noun

a northern earless seal, Pagophilus groenlandicus, with pale-yellow fur darkening to gray with age, of coasts, drifting ice, and seas of the North Atlantic Ocean, hunted for its fur.

Origin of harp seal

First recorded in 1775–85; so called from the harplike shape of markings on the backs of adults

British Dictionary definitions for harp seal

harp seal

noun

a brownish-grey earless seal, Pagophilus groenlandicus, of the North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans